ID :
205642
Wed, 09/07/2011 - 02:14
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/205642
The shortlink copeid
Reform of universities
The government blacklisted 15 percent of the 346 private universities for possible closure. The restructuring of the crowded tertiary schools will gather momentum once they see incentives.
The education ministry will use penalties as a way of weeding out the 43 problematic schools. State subsidies will be unavailable to them. Their freshman students will be unable to take out full loans for tuition.
Unless they show improvement through consulting, they will have no choice but to shut down. State-run universities will be no exception.
Curiously, none of the 15 schools run by religious organizations are on the list.
It took more than a decade for the government to initiate the restructuring. It took action ahead of announcing measures to reduce tuition this week. This belated move should be the start of a long-term process to reduce the number of tertiary schools in keeping with the falling birth rate.
More universities will voluntarily seek to close once operators are able to sell idle campuses and properties at market prices. Currently, shutting schools is costly for operators as land disposal is under strict control. The National Assembly needs to revise the current Private School Foundation Law.
Owners have run their schools as it is unrewarding to close them. Substandard universities exist through fraudulent admissions, manipulation of balance sheets and other irregularities.
As a means of survival, they sell diplomas. Even without attending class, students can receive degrees as long as they pay their tuition and import foreign students to fill quotas. One cash-strapped university allegedly paid 130,000 won in its monthly salary to professors.
Many troubled universities have so far been on life support from state subsidies. These across-the-board subsidies boosted the college-enrollment rate of 82 percent, one of the highest in the OECD. Only three universities -- Seoul National University, POSTECH and KAIST -- are among the top 100 in the world.
It is conventional wisdom that holders of college diplomas have a higher chance of being employed. But the textbook theory is not working in Korea. This is attributable to too many graduates only searching for top jobs.
Mass production of diplomas has created untold social problems. The jobless rate is exorbitantly high for college graduates. Although jobs are available, these diploma holders shun working in dangerous, difficult and dirty jobs, which foreign migrant workers fill out.
More universities need to merge or shutdown as the birth rate has been falling and they will be unable to meet enrollment quotas.
The government should link the amount in subsidies to the degree of reform each university implements. The tertiary schools need to eliminate unqualified professors and substandard departments for their survival.
Reform of the overcrowded universities will see added momentum if the right mix of incentives and penalties are implemented. Schools must be given incentives to merge.
The education ministry will use penalties as a way of weeding out the 43 problematic schools. State subsidies will be unavailable to them. Their freshman students will be unable to take out full loans for tuition.
Unless they show improvement through consulting, they will have no choice but to shut down. State-run universities will be no exception.
Curiously, none of the 15 schools run by religious organizations are on the list.
It took more than a decade for the government to initiate the restructuring. It took action ahead of announcing measures to reduce tuition this week. This belated move should be the start of a long-term process to reduce the number of tertiary schools in keeping with the falling birth rate.
More universities will voluntarily seek to close once operators are able to sell idle campuses and properties at market prices. Currently, shutting schools is costly for operators as land disposal is under strict control. The National Assembly needs to revise the current Private School Foundation Law.
Owners have run their schools as it is unrewarding to close them. Substandard universities exist through fraudulent admissions, manipulation of balance sheets and other irregularities.
As a means of survival, they sell diplomas. Even without attending class, students can receive degrees as long as they pay their tuition and import foreign students to fill quotas. One cash-strapped university allegedly paid 130,000 won in its monthly salary to professors.
Many troubled universities have so far been on life support from state subsidies. These across-the-board subsidies boosted the college-enrollment rate of 82 percent, one of the highest in the OECD. Only three universities -- Seoul National University, POSTECH and KAIST -- are among the top 100 in the world.
It is conventional wisdom that holders of college diplomas have a higher chance of being employed. But the textbook theory is not working in Korea. This is attributable to too many graduates only searching for top jobs.
Mass production of diplomas has created untold social problems. The jobless rate is exorbitantly high for college graduates. Although jobs are available, these diploma holders shun working in dangerous, difficult and dirty jobs, which foreign migrant workers fill out.
More universities need to merge or shutdown as the birth rate has been falling and they will be unable to meet enrollment quotas.
The government should link the amount in subsidies to the degree of reform each university implements. The tertiary schools need to eliminate unqualified professors and substandard departments for their survival.
Reform of the overcrowded universities will see added momentum if the right mix of incentives and penalties are implemented. Schools must be given incentives to merge.
